Categorisation

Before the researcher can begin to create categories, extended meaning units have to be condensed, which means that the number of words is reduced without losing the content of the unit (Graneheim & Lundman, 2004). The depth of the meaning units determines the level at which the analysis can be performed. This process of condensation is often needed when data are based on interviews, and when the latent content analysis is to be carried out. To extract the sense of the data, the coded material can be divided into domains – broad groups based on different focuses of the study. Graneheim and Lundman (2004) prefer the concept content area, since, in their view, this elucidates a specific, explicit area. For example, the material can be divided on the basis of the questions used when the data were collected or on theoretical assumptions from the literature (Bengtsson, 2016, p. 12).

In the categorization process, themes and categories are identified. However, in the literature there is no consensus for which headings or concepts are to be used in content analysis. Sub-categories, which Burnard (1991) terms sub-headings, are the smallest units based on meaning units. In the manifest analysis, sometimes these are the same as the codes of the meaning units. Sub-categories can be sorted into broader categories. The concept sub-theme can be used in the latent analysis instead of the concept categories. Identified themes and categories should be internally homogeneous and externally heterogeneous, which means that no data should fall between two groups nor fit into more than one group (Krippendorff, 2004). A theme is an overall concept of the underlying meaning on an interpretative latent level, and it answers the question ‘How?’

All categories must be rooted in the data from which they arise. Moving meaning units back and forth between categories ensures the progressive development of the category outcome. Initially, several categories are often generated, but the number is later reduced (Burnard, 1991). How the researcher knows when the categorization is good enough depends on the aim of the study, and the categorization is finished when a reasonable explanation has been reached (Bengtsson, 2016, p. 12).